Sheffield burglar jailed for breaking into garage

Sarah Marshall, Multimedia Reporter

A prolific burglar on his 'seventh strike' has been jailed for four years, after he broke into the property of a Sheffield couple as they slept upstairs.

Sheffield Crown Court was told how in the early hours of August 9 last year, Jamie Allcock, aged 24, broke into the garage of Mr and Mrs Spillay at their property in Matthews Lane, Norton.

The couple were awoken by the sound of a loud bang, but when Mrs Spillay went downstairs to investigate she did not see anyone else in the property.

A few hours later at 7.30am that morning, the couple received a phone call from a neighbour telling them that a motorbike they knew to belong to Mr Spillay had been left in some bushes nearby.

Prosecutor Beverley Tate told the court: "It had been hit with £200-£300 worth of damage.

"Strewn near to the bike was a number of maps he had taken from the garage. There was also a number of items taken including a drill, a model plane and £410 of items that were not recovered."

Police linked Allcock, of no fixed abode, to the burglary after finding his fingerprint on the stolen motorcycle helmet that also been left in the bushes.

But under police interview, Allcock denied the offence and said his fingerprint may have been found on the helmet because he was a 'keen motorcyclist' himself who used a number of different helmets at that time.

After taking a second police statement from Mr and Mrs Spillay, who ruled out the possibility that Allcock could have borrowed his helmet, the 24-year-old was charged with the offence, which he later to admitted to in court.

Ms Tate told the court that Allcock was now on his seventh strike for burglary offences, the first of which was committed in 2009.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Spillay said he felt as though Allcock must have been watching the house, because he had only taken his motorcycle out three times since returning to Sheffield.

He said: "I feel I have to sell the bike because I can't enjoy riding it any more because of the fear it will be stolen."

Defending Allcock, Andrew Jones told the court that Allcock began stealing, not to feed a drug habit, but to put food on the table for his younger sister that he looked after.

He said: "The offences you see on his record had been committed so he could feed his sister and pay the rent.

"It's never been about drugs. It's simply the oldest of bad habits."

Sentencing Allcock to four years in prison, Recorder Anthony Kelbrick told Allcock: "You are a committed burglar and you know that you face with each offence of burglary a sentence that will get longer and longer."